Modern. History of Style

Dmitry Sarabyanov (1923–2013) — Soviet and Russian art historian, specialist in the history of Russian and Soviet visual arts. The book "Modern. History of Style" is dedicated to the style that became widespread in the art of the last decades of the 19th century and the early 20th century in most countries of Europe and America. It manifested itself most fully in architecture and applied arts, but also encompassed visual arts — painting, graphics, sculpture. 

Examining the main stages of the development of the style, its social and artistic prerequisites, the author outlines three stages of modernism's development: early (the 1880s), mature (the 1890s), and late (early 20th century); and analyzes in which country and in which types of art the modern style was most fully manifested at each of these stages. The legacy of modernism is diverse and multilayered: it includes not only undeniable values and genuine artistic discoveries but also reflects unresolved contradictions, confusion in the face of life's difficulties and social changes.